谷歌的中國(guó)雄心不止于搜索引擎

BEIJING — Google has faced sharp criticism, including from its own employees, for its efforts to rebuild an internet search presence in China after quitting the country eight years ago over censorship issues.

北京——由于在中國(guó)努力重建互聯(lián)網(wǎng)搜索引擎的努力，八年前因?yàn)閷彶閱?wèn)題退出了中國(guó)的谷歌(Google)，面臨著包括來(lái)自員工的尖銳批評(píng)。

But for Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet, the opportunities in the world’s largest internet market may be too good to resist. And the full scope of the company’s interest in China now appears to be broader than just internet search.

但對(duì)谷歌的母公司“字母表”(Alphabet)來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)世界上最大的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)市場(chǎng)的機(jī)會(huì)太過(guò)誘人，令它難以抗拒。而如今這家公司在中國(guó)的興趣范圍似乎不限于搜索引擎。

The latest hint came from Waymo, the driverless-car company that was spun out of Google in 2016. Chinese media noticed this week that the business had quietly registered a Shanghai subsidiary in May, suggesting that it wants a piece of an industry that the Chinese government has made a priority.

最新的暗示來(lái)自于Waymo，這是一家2016年從谷歌剝離出來(lái)的無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)公司。中國(guó)媒體本周注意到，這家企業(yè)五月悄然在上海注冊(cè)了一家子公司，表明它想在中國(guó)政府置于優(yōu)先地位的行業(yè)中分一杯羹。

Other recent steps that Google has taken in China include opening a research center and promoting its software tools to developers.

谷歌近期在中國(guó)邁出的其他步伐包括開(kāi)設(shè)一家研究中心、向開(kāi)發(fā)人員推廣其軟件工具。

In artificial intelligence and other areas in which Alphabet is seeking to advance the technological frontier, China today is more than just the planet’s biggest audience of internet users. It is an ecosystem of sophisticated potential business partners, talent and tech-hungry customers from which tomorrow’s innovations could emerge.

在“字母表”尋求推進(jìn)科技前線的人工智能及其他領(lǐng)域中，如今的中國(guó)已經(jīng)不僅僅是全球最大的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶(hù)群體，而是一個(gè)由成熟的潛在商業(yè)伙伴、人才及對(duì)科技需求極大的客戶(hù)組成的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)，在其中，可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生未來(lái)的創(chuàng)新。

Other American tech giants have made their peace in various ways with Beijing’s strictures and conditions for operating in the country. Unlike Google, Apple runs its own app store in China, heeding government directives about the kinds of apps that can be available to Chinese users. Microsoft and Amazon offer cloud computing services, working with local partners and following strict controls on how customers’ data is stored.

其他美國(guó)科技巨頭已經(jīng)以各種各樣的方式，接受了北京對(duì)其在中國(guó)運(yùn)營(yíng)的限制和條件。與谷歌不同，蘋(píng)果(Apple)在中國(guó)運(yùn)營(yíng)自己的應(yīng)用商店，遵照政府關(guān)于能夠向中國(guó)用戶(hù)開(kāi)放下載的應(yīng)用程序類(lèi)型的要求。微軟(Microsoft)和亞馬遜(Amazon)提供云計(jì)算服務(wù)，與本土伙伴合作，并且嚴(yán)格遵守關(guān)于用戶(hù)數(shù)據(jù)儲(chǔ)存方式的管控。

Alphabet’s investments in future technologies make it particularly important for the company to get a foot into China early. Driverless cars have prompted regulatory and political debate, which means starting sooner could help reduce Chinese authorities’ concerns. More time in China for Waymo also means more experience on Chinese roads for its cars, and more data collected on the country’s driving environment.

“字母表”對(duì)未來(lái)科技的投資，讓早日踏足這個(gè)國(guó)家對(duì)該公司變得尤為重要。無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)已經(jīng)引發(fā)了監(jiān)管和政治方面的辯論，這意味著早些開(kāi)始，有助于減輕中國(guó)當(dāng)局的擔(dān)憂。Waymo在中國(guó)獲得更多時(shí)間，也意味著它的汽車(chē)能對(duì)中國(guó)的道路更加有經(jīng)驗(yàn)，也能在這個(gè)國(guó)家的駕駛環(huán)境中收集到更多數(shù)據(jù)。

“I think they’ve realized that developing in the United States won’t produce a car that will work in China,” said Gansha Wu, the chief executive and a co-founder of Uisee, an autonomous vehicle start-up in Beijing. “The road conditions are totally different.”

“我認(rèn)為他們意識(shí)到了，在美國(guó)開(kāi)發(fā)做不出來(lái)能在中國(guó)開(kāi)的車(chē)，”北京的自動(dòng)駕駛汽車(chē)初創(chuàng)企業(yè)馭勢(shì)科技CEO、聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人吳甘沙說(shuō)。“路況完全不同”。

A Google spokeswoman said the company did not have a comment for this article.

谷歌的發(fā)言人表示，公司對(duì)這篇報(bào)道不作置評(píng)。

For Alphabet, any play at significant expansion in China would bring unique challenges.

對(duì)“字母表”來(lái)說(shuō)，在中國(guó)進(jìn)行重大擴(kuò)張的任何嘗試都會(huì)帶來(lái)獨(dú)特的挑戰(zhàn)。

Its major moneymaking activities, such as search and video, run up against the Communist Party’s controls on information in a way that online shopping, for instance, does not.

該公司主要的賺錢(qián)業(yè)務(wù)，例如搜索及視頻——不同于網(wǎng)絡(luò)購(gòu)物等——與共產(chǎn)黨對(duì)信息的控制背道而馳。

Google would have to overcome a lack of name recognition among young Chinese. And it would face a tough fight against homegrown incumbents with Silicon Valley-like money to burn — including in areas like self-driving cars, in which Alphabet is arguably the global leader.

谷歌需要克服在中國(guó)的年輕人群體中認(rèn)知度不夠的問(wèn)題。并且還將面臨著與本土企業(yè)的一場(chǎng)苦戰(zhàn)，而這些企業(yè)都有著像硅谷一樣可以用來(lái)燒錢(qián)的大筆資金——包括自動(dòng)駕駛汽車(chē)這樣的領(lǐng)域，而“字母表”在這一領(lǐng)域毋庸置疑是全球領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。

Waymo’s company registration in China still puts it a long way from having wheels on the road. Its Shanghai subsidiary has an initial capitalization of about $500,000. A visit on Friday to the address listed on its registration filing turned up only a cramped, unmarked office, empty but for some simple furniture.

Waymo在中國(guó)的公司注冊(cè)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法令它能夠上路行駛。其上海子公司的初始資本金約為50萬(wàn)美元。周五記者前往注冊(cè)文件中列出的地址時(shí)，看到的是一個(gè)狹小的、沒(méi)有標(biāo)記的辦公室，里面空空蕩蕩，只有一些簡(jiǎn)單的家具。

Even with more investment, Waymo’s place in the Chinese market is hardly assured.

即使增加投資，Waymo在中國(guó)市場(chǎng)的地位也難以保證。

Baidu, maker of the country’s leading search engine, has made its autonomous-vehicle software platform available to dozens of local and foreign companies. SAIC Motor, China’s largest carmaker, is working with the e-commerce titan Alibaba. BMW and Daimler have received permission in China to test their own self-driving vehicles.

百度是中國(guó)領(lǐng)先的搜索引擎提供者，已經(jīng)為數(shù)十家本土和外國(guó)公司提供自動(dòng)駕駛汽車(chē)軟件平臺(tái)。中國(guó)最大的汽車(chē)制造商上海汽車(chē)集團(tuán)正在與電子商務(wù)巨頭阿里巴巴合作。寶馬和戴姆勒(Daimler)已經(jīng)獲準(zhǔn)在中國(guó)測(cè)試自己的自動(dòng)駕駛汽車(chē)。

That might leave only China’s newer, smaller automakers for Waymo should it someday seek a local partner for building intelligent cars, said Yale Zhang, managing director at Automotive Foresight, a consultancy in Shanghai.

上海咨詢(xún)公司前瞻(Automotive Foresight)的總經(jīng)理張?jiān)ケ硎?，這可能會(huì)令Waymo在尋找當(dāng)?shù)睾献骰锇榻ㄔ熘悄芷?chē)時(shí)，只能更新、更小的汽車(chē)制造商可供選擇。

“That’s their chance,” Mr. Zhang said.

“這是他們的機(jī)會(huì)，”張?jiān)フf(shuō)。

A Waymo spokeswoman confirmed that the company had set up and staffed a legal entity in China, but declined to comment on further plans.

Waymo發(fā)言人證實(shí)，該公司已在中國(guó)成立了一家法人實(shí)體，并已招募員工，但拒絕對(duì)進(jìn)一步的計(jì)劃發(fā)表評(píng)論。

Alphabet began taking baby steps to expand in China well before word got out this month about Google’s work on a censored search engine, code-named Dragonfly. This year, Google released a file-management app for Chinese users and a game on the popular social media tool WeChat. It recently opened a research center devoted to artificial intelligence and has invested in local companies, including the retailer JD.com.

本月關(guān)于谷歌在從事代號(hào)為“蜻蜓”的審查版搜索引擎消息傳出之前，“字母表”就已開(kāi)始在中國(guó)進(jìn)行小規(guī)模擴(kuò)張。今年，谷歌為中國(guó)用戶(hù)發(fā)布了一個(gè)文件管理應(yīng)用程序，并在流行的社交媒體工具微信上發(fā)布了一款游戲。它最近開(kāi)設(shè)了一個(gè)致力于人工智能的研究中心，并投資了包括零售商京東在內(nèi)的本土企業(yè)。

Google never quit China entirely after shuttering its search engine here in 2010, citing censorship requirements and hacking attacks. But Beijing’s online controls have tightened in recent years, sometimes ensnaring even domestically run social media outlets. Last month, Facebook won approval to open a subsidiary in the eastern province of Zhejiang — only to see that approval quickly withdrawn.

2010年谷歌以審查要求和黑客攻擊為由關(guān)閉在華搜索引擎后，它從未真正放棄中國(guó)。但近年來(lái)，北京的網(wǎng)絡(luò)控制措施已經(jīng)收緊，有時(shí)甚至令本土經(jīng)營(yíng)的社交媒體受限。上個(gè)月，F(xiàn)acebook獲準(zhǔn)在東部省份浙江省開(kāi)設(shè)子公司——然而批準(zhǔn)很快就被撤回了。

If Google wanted to serve Chinese search users, it would face a formidable rival. For most Chinese, Baidu, which has a market capitalization of more than $70 billion, is about as synonymous with search as Google is for people elsewhere.

如果谷歌想為中國(guó)搜索用戶(hù)提供服務(wù)，它將面臨一個(gè)強(qiáng)大的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。對(duì)于大多數(shù)中國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，市值超過(guò)700億美元的百度就像谷歌對(duì)于其他地方的人一樣，也是搜索的代名詞。

Smaller Chinese search engines receive relatively little traffic on their own apps and websites, said Juan Lin, an analyst in Shanghai with the research firm 86Research. Many of their queries come to them from external sources, such as WeChat — a sign of how little influence they command among Chinese web users, and of how much dominance Baidu enjoys.

研究公司86Research的上海分析師林娟表示，較小的中國(guó)搜索引擎在自己的應(yīng)用程序和網(wǎng)站上獲得的流量相對(duì)較少。它們的許多請(qǐng)求來(lái)自外部來(lái)源，例如微信——這表明它們?cè)谥袊?guó)網(wǎng)民中的影響力很小，以及百度享有極大的支配地位。

There is another problem for Google.

谷歌還有另一個(gè)問(wèn)題。

“Search itself doesn’t have as strong a presence these days compared to 2010,” Ms. Lin said. Instead, she said, a big chunk of Chinese advertisers’ money now goes to newsfeed apps such as Jinri Toutiao, which serves people fresh articles and videos based on what they have read and watched in the past. Such apps, too, must be policed extensively.

“與2010年相比，如今的搜索本身并沒(méi)有那么強(qiáng)大的力量，”林娟說(shuō)。她說(shuō)，中國(guó)廣告客戶(hù)的大部分資金現(xiàn)在都投入在新聞報(bào)道應(yīng)用程序，例如今日頭條，它根據(jù)用戶(hù)過(guò)去閱讀和觀看的內(nèi)容，為他們提供新鮮的文章和視頻。此類(lèi)應(yīng)用程序也必須受到廣泛監(jiān)管。

Another potential avenue to more sales for Google in China would be to win permission to operate Google Play, its store for apps and digital media. Hundreds of millions of smartphones in the country use Google’s Android operating system, but people download apps from a variety of third-party sources.

谷歌在中國(guó)獲得更多銷(xiāo)售額的另一個(gè)潛在途徑，是獲得運(yùn)營(yíng)其應(yīng)用和數(shù)字媒體商店Google Play的許可。該國(guó)數(shù)以?xún)|計(jì)的智能手機(jī)使用谷歌的安卓操作系統(tǒng)，但人們從各種第三方來(lái)源下載應(yīng)用程序。

For that, Google would likely need local help to win Beijing’s regulatory blessing. One potential ally is Tencent, the video game and social media behemoth. The two companies recently completed a deal to share patents. Tencent also offers cloud computing services. Google executives have said that they hope to make their cloud business a global operation, something that would be hard to achieve without being in China.

為此，谷歌可能需要來(lái)自本土的幫助，才能贏得北京監(jiān)管部門(mén)的認(rèn)可。一個(gè)潛在的盟友是視頻游戲和社交媒體巨頭騰訊。這兩家公司最近達(dá)成了一項(xiàng)專(zhuān)利共享協(xié)議。騰訊還提供云計(jì)算服務(wù)。谷歌高管表示，他們希望將自己的云業(yè)務(wù)打造成全球業(yè)務(wù)，如果不進(jìn)入中國(guó)這就很難實(shí)現(xiàn)。

Making friends could benefit Google in other ways. It could cut deals with software companies to have its search engine embedded in their mobile browsers, or team up with phone makers to have its apps preinstalled on their devices.

結(jié)交朋友可以在其他方面使谷歌受益。它可以同軟件公司達(dá)成交易，將其搜索引擎嵌入到它們的移動(dòng)瀏覽器中，或者與手機(jī)制造商合作，在其設(shè)備上預(yù)裝其應(yīng)用程序。

In all of these areas, Google would need to overcome wariness among potential Chinese partners, said Ms. Lin of 86Research.

Google left China in 2010 in a huff. 86Research的林娟表示，在所有這些領(lǐng)域，谷歌都需要克服潛在中國(guó)合作伙伴的戒心。谷歌在2010年離開(kāi)中國(guó)時(shí)非常憤怒。

“Who would want to partner with a company that exited China because of its slogan of ‘Don’t be evil’?” she said.

“誰(shuí)愿意與一家因?yàn)?lsquo;不做惡’的口號(hào)而退出中國(guó)的公司合作?”她說(shuō)。